In His Hand My Heart He Held
by Inuluvr
Summary: Happy Halloween Everyone! A brief Naru/Saku horror/suspense one-shot I wrote to celebrate Halloween. Rated M due to blood and gore/violence.


-In His Hand My Heart He Held-

-In His Hand My Heart He Held-

Crimson chakra curled around the boy's body as rage engulfed him. Crouched on all fours, the feral figure seemed less like a human, and more like a monster. Snarling, he focused his slit pupils on the enemy, his blood-red eyes narrowed dangerously.

At first the chakra surrounded him, but as his anger grew, it began to take shape. Three tails now lashed behind him, more forming. As the fourth tail emerged, the boy staggered onto two feet and let out a chilling shriek. His skin began to peel, leaving his body raw and bloody, and his shriek shifted to that of an animal's howl.

Sakura knew she had to do something. She watched as Naruto transformed, his body becoming less and less discernable from a demon. She reached her trembling hand to a paper seal in her pocket. Everything she did for Naruto was so small and insignificant, but she promised herself this time she would save him from this pain, no matter what the cost.

She pulled out the small seal and fingered it nervously. In order to help him… she would have to get this on his _stomach_. Sakura watched Naruto- no, Kyuubi- open his mouth to let out a menacing hiss, and a sharp edge of fear cut through her. She gulped nervously, eying the Uchiha Akatsuki member standing opposite the feral Naruto. She had to help him before he killed Sasuke… or Sasuke killed him.

Gathering her courage, she focused her attention on her teammate and ran for him. If she could just quickly

slap it onto him, then jump out of harm's way, she'd be able to help him and keep herself safe.

His blazing red eyes slid to look at her as she ran towards him. For seconds he merely watched. Then, as Sakura reached out to seal him back, he let loose, grabbing her by the throat. Stunned by the attack, Sakura hung limply from his grasp at first. However, as she became aware of what happened, she desperately reached to put the seal on him.

The Uchiha watched coldly, letting the horrifying scene take its course. The struggling kunoichi was trying her best to keep conscious and save the blonde, even though he was now nothing more than a monster. The Akatsuki member didn't wish to waste time watching, so he merely left; It would be better if he tackled this bijuu later.

Sakura felt her vision begin to fade as the constriction took hold of her. She was only slightly aware that Sasuke was now gone; now to concentrate on Naruto. She was feeling faint, but if she could just reach a little farther; less than an inch; she could already feel the heat radiating from his torso. So close, and yet… Everything was blurring, and she felt her strength give in. Was this it…?

And the suddenly, for one reason or another, the Kyuubi-Naruto moved in such a way that Sakura was able to reach his stomach. Gratefully, she let the seal latch onto the boy leaking the evil chakra. As soon as the seal took hold, it began to restrict the chakra. Kyuubi released Sakura as he stumbled back, again letting out a screech so inhuman it made her skin crawl.

She hit the ground hard with a heavy thud. She sat up, gasping for air, her lungs burning. She had done it; she had saved Naruto. She smiled triumphantly to herself, though her pride only lasted but a brief minute.

Naruto, his eyes narrowed with hate and rage, was leaning over with his hands almost dragging on the ground. "You wench," He hissed grimly, though in a voice Sakura knew was not Naruto's. He staggered in pain and growled. "I'm not going down this easily…. Not without a fight!"

Sakura saw his hand reaching to her and managed to get to her feet, but fear had taken hold. Her mind struggled with her body as panic surged through her. Her body wouldn't respond, though, try as she might to leap out of harm's way. She watched as his clawed hand slowly moved dangerously closer and closer to her unprotected body, as if time had crawled to a climactic crawl.

And then he reached her. No; He _tore_ _through_ her.

The pain was blinding, and they stood there for what seemed like forever, his arm reaching into her, blood spattered across his arm and face. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. All she could do was look into the face of her teammate. His crimson eyes met hers, and his lips parted into a fanged, twisted smile.

"Goodbye, wench." And he withdrew his hand.

The pain was unimaginable. Sakura felt numb, and before she knew what was happening, she was falling… falling into an abyss. As she fell time crawled, and she locked her blank gaze on Naruto's unstable form. And the last thing she saw- in his blood red eyes, was a flash of blue; a streak of terror and inconsolable sorrow. And then, the cold grip of pain dragged her into the darkness.

For several minutes after the kunoichi had fallen, Naruto writhed in pain as he returned to his human form. His body dripped blood from his raw skin, and his normal cheery blue eyes were faded to a solid gray. When he had converted back completely, he stumbled back and fell on his back, his arms outstretched.

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"Naruto-kun," A sweet voice called through the darkness. "Naruto, please wake up." Weak and in agonizing pain, Naruto cracked an eye open. As his vision sharpened, he saw Sakura kneeling beside him, her pale green eyes looking worriedly at him.

He glanced around warily; he was surrounded by nothingness… All around him was an intense white, save the pink-haired kunoichi who sat beside him. However, as he looked at her, he noticed how washed out her color was. Her normally rosy skin was now a sickly white, and even her usually bright-green eyes were faded to a pale sage.

She laid her hand on his chest and felt his beating heart. He shivered instinctively as her icy palm touched his warm body. He watched curiously as a light green glow began to emanate from her hands. He felt a cool relief from the pain as she passed her hands over his beaten body.

"Sakura-chan… why…. How are you here?" He managed to whisper through his parched lips. She let a soft and saddened smile pass over her own lips, but she did not answer him. Naruto turned his head weakly to see her more clearly and felt his stomach drop. Her dress was splattered with blood and her chest was drenched with the sticky red substance.

"S-sakura-chan, you're bleeding!!" He spoke with alarm, the sudden surge of panic bringing him strength. He struggled to sit up, but Sakura put a pale hand on his shoulder and slowly but steadily forced him back to the ground. She then studied her own wound and shrugged slightly.

"So I am. It doesn't matter, Naruto. Please, just rest and don't push yourself…." Naruto's intense blue eyes flashed with bitter hatred. "Did he do this to you?! Did Sasuke hurt you?!"

Sakura lowered her eyes from his fierce gaze and did not respond.

"Did he?!" He gritted his teeth, and Sakura caught a brief glimpse of Naruto's eyes flickering dangerously close to red. "Naruto, please, calm down! You're already seriously injured… and I don't have the chakra to keep you from hurting yourself more with Kyuubi's chakra."

Naruto averted his eyes from her, and squinted at the surrounding nothingness. "I….Did I… transform into…." He trailed off and squeezed his eyes shut, and punched the ground in frustration. "That damned fox!"

Sakura, seeing her teammate's anger rise, placed her hand and on his. He turned to look at her as he felt her freezing fingers touch his.

"Naruto… you asked why I was here…" She raised her eyes to meet his. "I'm here to bring you back… You…. You were so far into the transformation… I wasn't sure that you would be able to wake up on your own." Naruto looked at her, puzzled by the outward affection she was showing him. She continued, "So please, Naruto. Live… please wake up…" He blushed slightly as she wrapped her fingers around his. She leaned in so her face was inches from his. Then their lips met, and an icy cold spiked through him. He lay stunned for a few moments, and then, recovering from the shock, focused his eyes on her. Her sea green eyes were glassy, and he could see tears forming.

"Naruto… I'm so sorry… all the times we were together, and I always… I always pretended not to like you…. But the truth is… you stole my heart, and you'll always have it!" Naruto watched her as she said this. "Naruto… I love you!" Sakura lunged onto him, holding him tightly in a strong embrace.

"Sa-Sakura-chan… I love you, too." He weakly lifted his arms to reach around her body, and he felt her cold body in his arms. Why was she so cold…?

And then she was gone. And he was beginning to fade… the white began to spread across him, everything becoming pale…pale….

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at a darkening sky. He inhaled deeply and pain surged through his body. Had it all been a dream?

He tried to sit up, but his body was limp and he was too exhausted to raise himself up. With a great effort, he tilted his heavy head to the left to survey his surroundings. Instantly, his eyes locked on the kunoichi who lay a few feet away from him. Her hair covered her face, and one arm stretched from her torn body. Her fingers were outstretched, less than an inch away from his; she had been reaching to him. Naruto hoped she was ok. He couldn't see her breathing, but he assured himself it was only because he didn't have the right angle.

A cold wind brushed over him, and he shivered. A tingling sensation crept up his spine as the air rushed past him. He felt as though someone were standing right behind him… breathing cold air down his neck… Slowly, he turned his head. Was Sasuke standing behind him, sword raised to kill? No.

He let out a sigh of relief, but it was caught in his throat as he saw his arm. Near his shoulder, blood was splattered here and there. Alarmed, he followed the trail of blood down his arm. The closer to his hand, the more blood there was. Naruto squinted his eyes to see his hand, his vision still blurry. His hand was dyed with the sticky red, but as he focused on his palm, he felt his stomach catch in his throat; frozen by what he saw. _For in his hand her heart he held._

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Ooooh, morbidity. Lolz

Sorry to those of you who don't approve of such angsty stories, I really wanted to write something morbid for Halloween. And somehow…. Naruto ripping out Sakura's heart just seemed to be morbid enough to make a creepy fic.

I was going for a chilling, cold feeling, though I'm not sure it came across how I would have liked it to. Ah, well. I hope you enjoy! And just for future reference, I won't ever be writing anything as morbid as this again.

Thanks!


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